More than a week after launch, Arkane's vampire-hunting co-op shooter Redfall is still a complete mess. If it's not AI that can't figure out how to move around a box, it's floating chimneys, blurry visuals, and hovering vampires that don't seem to know when they've been shot. It's no surprise that this broken game is both Bethesda's and Arkane's lowest-rated game ever and is now in the bottom 15 games on Steam.
And yet, despite all the bad press, Redfall is actually Xbox's second-biggest game launch of the year. That's according to True Achievements, which released its report on Xbox player data yesterday. Going based on the number of hours players poured into Redfall for the week ending on May 7, Redfall was the third-biggest game on Xbox systems, just behind Fortnite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
As noted by GamesRadar+, a lot of that could be attributed to Redfall's same-day release on Game Pass. Just like Atomic Heart, Xbox's biggest game release of 2023 so far, Redfall being on Game Pass meant that Xbox gamers could give it a try without having to shell out additional cash. It seems that despite the bugs, Redfall has found at least some audience on Xbox even as Steam players abandon the game en masse.
Tue Achievements notes that gameplay hours are collected weekly, so it’s quite possible that next week’s data will reveal a big drop as everyone abandons Redfall for Tears of the Kingdom.
The most curious thing about Redfall is how silent Arkane has been. It's now been over a week since Redfall's abysmal release, and Arkane hasn't said a single word about patches or even hinted at a roadmap to get Redfall into a more playable state. That's despite fans calling for Arkane to provide an update on Redfall's development and Xbox head Phil Spencer saying that he expects Redfall to be supported like Grounded and Sea of Thieves.
In an interview on the Kinda Funny podcast, Spencer admitted that Redfall was Xbox's "punch in the chin."
"There's nothing that's more difficult for me than disappointing the Xbox community and just kind of watch the community lose confidence, be disappointed," he said. "I'm disappointed, I'm upset with myself."
Spencer added that the first priority was to give Redfall a 60fps mode for Xbox Series X, but again, Arkane has remained dangerously silent on Redfall's next steps.
Meanwhile, Starfield fans have grown impatient with everyone calling for Starfield to be delayed in the wake of Redfall's disastrous arrival. Comparisons between the two are indeed a little unfair as they're different games from different teams, but anxiety remains for some Xbox faithful.